U.S.
Jonathan Paye-Layleh/AP
The United States will host the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C. this week, with 50 African officials who will first be screened for the Ebola virus, as the deadly disease’s spread shows no signs of abating in West Africa.
Ebola’s spread in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone is a reminder of the vast development needs that persist in some of the region’s poorest countries despite rapid economic growth and investment. At least 729 people have died in the current outbreak of the virus, including two prominent Ebola doctors from Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Health care workers are particularly at risk of infection. Nancy Writebol, one of two American missionaries who were infected with Ebola while working to quell the epidemic in Liberia, is expected to fly Tuesday to the U.S. for treatment, following a colleague who was admitted over the weekend to Emory University Hospital's infectious disease unit.
Writebol's son, Jeremy Writebol of Wichita, Kansas, said his mother "is still struggling" but that "there seems to be improvement." Fellow missionary Dr. Kent Brantly was also said to be improving Sunday.
In the United States, public health officials continue to emphasize that treating Brantly and Writebol in the U.S. poses no risks to the wider American public.
"We know how to control it: hospital infection control and stopping it at the source in Africa," Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, speaking Sunday on ABC's "This Week."
Meanwhile Frieden's agency is ramping up its effort to combat the outbreak. He promised "50 staff on the ground" in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone "in the next 30 days."
Ebola is a hemorrhagic virus with a death rate of up to 90 percent of those infected. The fatality rate in the current epidemic is about 60 percent. Standard treatment is to provide supportive care, such as maintaining blood pressure and supporting breathing.
Efforts to turn the tide against the diesease's spread comes as the White House sets to host a summit of leaders across Africa this week.
Although Ebola is not specifically on the agenda, officials said the Aug. 4-6 meeting may be adapted to include the topic, the Washington Post reported.
Delegates will be screened for the disease prior to the meeting. Meanwhile, two African leaders — the presidents of Liberia and Sierra Leone — have canceled their plans to attend the conference because of the Ebola outbreak.
At the summit, the White House is expected to announce nearly $1 billion in business deals, increase funding for peacekeeping, and commit billions of dollars to expanding food and power programs, U.S. officials said.
Administration officials have played down questions over whether the summit is in response to China's growing presence in the continent.
Instead, they say American interests go beyond Africa's oil and minerals, areas on which some say China is focused.
“You will see a series of announcements on agriculture and food, and power and energy,” said Rajiv Shah, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). “We will make big announcements that demonstrate these are big ambitions we can take on with our African partners and the private sector.”
One of the projects that will receive renewed support is Power Africa, a privately funded program launched by President Barack Obama last year aimed at installing 10,000 megawatts of a new generation capacity and connect 20 million new customers to electricity across the continent by 2018.
“There will be several billion of dollars in new investments,” Shah said.
But Ebola is likely to cast a shadow over the summit, as they have done for ither international meetings.
On Monday conference organizers in South Korea officials rescinded an invitation to three Nigerian students who had been asked to attend a university session.
The Duksung Women's University in Seoul said in a statement the school "politely withdrew" its invitation for three Nigerian students to attend an international conference that it is co-hosting with the U.N. starting from Monday.
Al Jazeera and wire services
Global and West African governments’ actions are inadequate to the danger
Thousands of people have contracted Ebola since the mid-1970s, but this year’s outbreak represents the largest on record
The epidemic has claimed several dozen lives since January and continues to spread
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